The road of redemption
by metallicanirvana
Summary: Bart now 18, makes his way back to springfield but not everyone is willing to allow him back into their lives. A tale of love, friendship and redemption. Will he fix up his mistakes or make things worse for himself?
1. Introduction

_Very few people in Springfield knew what happened to the spiky haired demon. As Bart got older he just seemed to get more out of control, his parents not knowing what to do had him sent away to live with Homer's uncle, Kyle. There he spent 8 miserable year in Shelbyville. However, on his 18__th__ Birthday he would return back home, the place where he was once the popular kid, now he is the forgotten Simpson._

I shouldn't go back home but I want to see my family again. Plus, I need a new… I don't even want to consider it but I might not have a choice. It wouldn't be bad to see my family again. Not particularly mum or dad, for it was them that had sent me to live with that old man, but to see my little sister Maggie. She was still an infant when I had left, she probably doesn't even know who I am. Too her I would be a stranger but I don't think she ever knew she was my favourite of the family.

Another person I am eager to see again is Lisa, although I know she isn't eager to see me again. It was because of her that I was shipped away into that hell hole but I need to get this sorted. What I did was overboard and completely ignorant. I had attempted to burn her room down, I was unsuccessful but ended up burning a few of her books including her diary. Something you never do to a girl is burn her diary, she was in tears… I didn't think it would affect her that much. She didn't even come to say goodbye when I left…

Other than family, there are other people I want to see again. My best friend Milhouse, I know my absence would have affected the nerdy, weak little boy a lot. I also want to see… this girl, the only girl I could say I ever loved. Jessica Lovejoy, we dated once, broke up and then got together a few months before I was forced to leave. I knew the little girl, I want to know the woman she is now.

There it was, my old home, it's the same way it has always been. I knock on it, awaiting an answer. All of a sudden my heart starts pumping really fast. Maybe this isn't the best idea, I mean I have been exiled from here, from my family. The door opens and I see a girl a few inches shorter than me, her hair no longer looking like a pineapple, instead straightened with red and blue highlights. It was Lisa.

"Bart?" She said looking at me, her facial expression was nearly blank. She had no idea what to think, I had no idea what to say but hello.

"How have you been brother?" She said launching her arms around me and giving me a kiss on the cheek. That wasn't what I expected at all. Lisa and I have always sort have been… against each other. Sure we worked together a few times and were on the same page at times, but general speaking, we hated each other.

"I have been… well I'm still alive," I said with a smile as she ushered me inside.

"Things haven't been the same without you, you won't believe what this family is like now," I didn't have to take Lisa's word for it, the living room was different. The biggest plasma screen TV I ever saw was attached to the wall, a massive stereo with a cd rack that had about 2000 cds, expensive drapes and a smell of something other than alcohol and baby droppings.

"How have you been sis?" I asked sitting down on an unfamiliar sofa, somewhat more comfortable than the old one. Was I the one that made us poor? That's not possible or is it?

"I have been good," She said with a smile. Yeah, I would imagine she's been good, after all it was my job to make her life miserable.

"Uhh about the whole… burning thing," I started but someone I was highly anticipating too see, walked into the room.

"Maggie? Maggie… is that you?" A dazed and confused 10 year old girl looked up at me.

"Yes, who are you?" She looked almost like Lisa when she was 8. Maggie did definitely look cuter than Lisa(although I never paid attention to how my 8 yr old sister looked, too busy trying to make her cry!) and her hair was straightened and dyed black.

"I am, Bart… Simpson," I said with a smile, her eyes widened and she stared directly into my eyes..

"Your… you're my brother? The one that Mum said was living with a relative." She said in a cute, childish voice, I'm so glad I got to see Maggie before she becomes a bratty teenager.

"Yeah, oh damn… I should have gotten something, I just don't have any cash." I say lamely as she moves closer to observe me.

"Happy Birthday," Maggie said, that took me and Lisa completely by surprise. I wanted to ask how she knew that, she definitely shared Lisa's brain. After a few minutes of knowing her I knew she was more like Lisa than me. I never did understand why Lisa was so smart, mum and dad were idiots. No one in my family was smart, except for her. I guess I envied her about that which fuelled our rivalry.

"Bart!" I had to see it to believe it, a skinny, covered with hair, clean shaven father. He was dressed in a suit. This was a lot different than the bald, fat and stupid-looking father I once had.

"Dad?" I said surprised. I know that I was trouble but I didn't think I was the reason Homer was a loser. Guess I was.

"What do you want?" A somewhat, colder greeting was given from my mum. What happened to 'my special little guy'? I guess I caused too much havoc to mum to still be her special little guy.

"I came to uhh say hi," I didn't want to say that my Uncle had also told me to find a new home. I was homeless, I wanted to come here to sort things out with my family but maybe that will be harder than I thought. I had done a lot of things I regret here. I have a feeling this town isn't going to be too welcoming to me.

"I'll see you guys around I guess," I say getting up and leaving my old home. Where do I go now? I guess I have some cash, I should visit that place dad used to always go to, uhh Moe's… I need a drink to get my head off of things.

The town seemed the same, a run down part of middle class America. Moe's Tavern, a dark place for the tortured soul, maybe I'll run into old friends or something here. I open the door and instantly the smell of alcohol and vomit flows into my lungs.

"Uhh can I have a whiskey?" I ask the bar tender who was busily cleaning beer mugs.

"Sorry, only got duff… Bart?" The man says but down the mug and looking directly at me. It was Moe, one of my dad's best friends. Suddenly the whole bar turns and looks at me, I didn't think I would be the cause of such a fuss. Everyone started whispering, maybe coming back here was a big mistake.

"Bart… it's me," A blue haired, slightly shorter than me, nerdy boy said.

"Milhouse… wow, you haven't changed… at all!" I say surprised, I never thought I would see Milhouse again.

"Uhh, I'll have a beer," I say to Moe. He pulls out a semi-dirty mug and fills it up with the yellow poison I need right now.

"So how's life been for you man?" I ask Milhouse.

"Well things have been different since you left for sure, I have been working a lot harder at school and stuff. I always said that I wasn't a nerd cause I was pretty stupid but I realised that… I am a nerd. How about you? What happened… no one knew what happened to you, you just… disappeared." Milhouse's voice had deepened just a little bit, he still sounded like a teenager.

"I went to live with my uncle, life hasn't been so good… but now I'm back here. It's like… now I'm home, I got a lot of things to fix up… I need to get on good terms with my family especially my mother again, I got to… find Jessica… and well I dunno… there is a lot of people I have upset in this town but hopefully they will forgive me." I say finishing off my beer.

"Oh uhh Jessica, you might want to have a few more drinks, I got something to tell you."


	2. Where to crash?

After a few more drinks I decided to ask about Jessica, what is this news he wants to tell me? He looked at me for a second before he opened his mouth to answer me. All I hope is that she's okay. I hope its something that won't affect me and her being together again.

"Well… she's getting married…" He said quietly. She can't get married… she's only 18, I was suppose to come back here, apologise and seek forgiveness from everyone and then marry her. She wasn't suppose to marry someone else, she was suppose to marry me.

"WHAT?" I scream out loud.

"She's getting married to that Martin Prince," I heard what he said but I didn't believe what he said. Martin was a short, little nerd, how did a good boy like that end up with a bad girl like her? I suppose since I left, Jessica would have changed and by the sounds of it, she must have finally started listening to her father. Why did she have to change?

"Martin Prince? How…? Why?" I ask.

"Well after Jessica was chucked into rehab, she cleaned up and became a good girl, she's now topping every class she takes and even has a job and stuff," Jessica was addicted to drugs? I knew she would most likely get addicted to drugs, but I was always hoping that we would be addicted to them, together.

"Wow… so she's no longer my Jessica? She's someone different…" Milhouse nods.

"Yeah, she's like quiet… polite now," Milhouse said.

"Oh… uhh can I ask you something?" I ask.

"Sure," He finishes his drink and asks for another. I never tried duff before today, I never liked beer but I can see why my dad spent all his time here. This duff stuff is nice as, not like beer at all.

"Well its just that I got back to Springfield and I kind of got no place to stay, can I maybe uhh… crash with you?" I ask nervously.

"Sure, I got my own place now… I couldn't continue living with my dad or mum, they both have gone increasing insane since the break up," Finally some good news, I don't have to sleep on the streets tonight.

"Thanks dude," I finish off my beer and ask for another. I didn't plan the day to end like this, I thought I would be able to fix things up with my mum and move back home. My old room, I didn't even get to see it again… I wonder if they moved anything out of it. There were a few possessions I left back that I would like to see again.

How long before I can redeem my actions with my family? How do I do it? I mean I didn't have much of a plan when I came here, I just thought that everything would turn out okay, I guess life isn't that easy. If you make a mistake, you can't always erase it with an eraser, sometimes it takes a lot of work. I wish it wasn't like that, but that's exactly what it is like.

"Does Dad still come here?" I ask Moe.

"Homer hasn't been here since you left?" I don't get how things have become so different. They say change is a naturally part of life but things have changed so much. Was my absence the cause of all of this? I'm sure some people would be the same, Milhouse doesn't seem different… but the people that have change, they are like complete strangers to me. This sounds like trouble, maybe I should just go back to Shelbyville, at least I got friends there now.

The Bart most of this town used to hate was the old Bart. I am a complete stranger to most of the town right now, because the bad part of me is all they knew and that part is nearly gone. But back in Shelbyville, I know people and people know me, I don't have to show people the new Bart cause they only know that Bart. People here only know the old Bart.

"Homer and Jessica have changed, who else has changed?" I ask Milhouse who shrugs his shoulders.

"Basically everyone has changed in some way, so have you… haven't you?" He has a good point there. I have changed so much in the past few years, if Jessica or any of my old friends have changed this much… then wow.

"True, hey should we like head back to your place?" I ask Milhouse.

"Sure, want to catch a bus?" He asks.

"Don't you have a car?" I ask.

"Yeah but I'm drunk, I'm just going to leave it parked here for tonight," He says.

"I'll drive… I'm starting to sober up," I say, he nods and gives me his keys. We step outside and he walks to his car, it was a 1991 Mazda RX-7, wow RX-7s are pretty damn cool. What's cooler is that its manual, these things get up to 11k rpm, that's so awesome.

"Drive safely," Milhouse said as I started it up. I am still drunk so I got to be extra careful, hopefully the cops aren't going to bother me tonight. After driving for about 10 minutes I realise I'm not driving well at all, forgetting to indicate and everything.

"Oh, it's down near Springfield elementary, after that you got to take a left," I follow his directions and go to the school. Springfield elementary, I sure did make a lot of friends there as well as a lot of enemies. I wonder what some of my other friends are up too, would they remember me? I mean I haven't seen all my old friends for so long. I wonder how Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph, Ralph and everyone else are doing, and I guess I got to fix up things with some friends as well. I just kind of left without telling anyone anything.

I turn a sharp right, all of a sudden I see a bright, blinding light cloud my vision. I hit the brakes as quick as I could, all of a sudden everything goes in slow motion. I watch as Milhouse's side of the car slowly starts to crumble. BOOM!!! Head on collision, I undo my seat beat, and try to crawl out of the door. The shattered glass of the windscreen was piercing my skin as I opened the door and crawl onto the hard concrete, slowly being painted red from my blood. I got up and dusted the glass off of my clothes.

Other than a cut on my forehead, I was fine… I didn't get that much impact cause it was the passenger's side that got hit by the car. I walked to Milhouse's side of the car, it was smashed badly. I tried opening the door but it was jammed.

"Milhouse, Milhouse...?" He doesn't respond, he looks in pretty rough shape, slowly getting covered in a river of his own blood, his flesh exposed to tiny pieces of glass and his body not moving an inch.

"YOU!!!!" I turn around to see the owner of the other vehicle, it had to be him… of all the people I crash into, it had to be him…


	3. Still an immature, little brat

A/N: I enjoy writing this story even if nothing really has started in terms of Bart redeeming himself.

Principal Skinners was standing in front of me, his arms crossed and a look that showed I had angered him. This was nothing new, this was a part of the past I have to relive, and I didn't think I would get him angry ever again.

Cars were slowly starting to pile up behind us, I wish I could just run, run some where from this moment but I'm here and have to deal with it. I want to go back home, I thought Springfield was my home but it seems like every time I'm here, I get into a load of trouble.

"I'm so… sorry," I said.

"You'll be sorrier when the cops get here," He says pulling out a cell phone. Within minutes, an ambulance arrived and Milhouse was dragged into it on a stretcher. I join him in the ambulance, he still wasn't move… he might already be dead. It didn't take me long to stuff up things on my return.

I actually had everything going right, why didn't I just agree to the bus idea, why did I think I was okay to drive? This is my fault; if I didn't come here Milhouse would be fine. I always got Milhouse into sticky situations that he didn't want to be in but this time… he might be dead.

I had finally got things sorted, I had a place to crash(excuse the pun), I was just about to start showing the town of Springfield that I wasn't that immature, little brat but all I have done now is show that my judgement is still very bad. I am still that immature, little brat!

I was separated from Milhouse, he was taking to the emergency ward while I had to wait in the waiting room to get stitches. It was busy in the hospital today, a lot of people getting hurt due to summer vacation.

"Bart?" A deep voice grunted at me. I turn around to see a boy my age, around 6ft 5 in vertical height, with the biggest muscles I have ever seen. Nelson looked like a body builder, he was massive.

"Nelson? How have you been?" His right hand was covered in blood, I was going to ask what happened but knowing Nelson, I don't want to ask that. I'm guess it had something to do with criminal activity, maybe he got drunk and smashed someone or something.

"I been good, I never thought I would see you again… what happened? You kind of just… disappeared." He says.

"Well I just did some bad things and got sent to live with my Uncle in Shelbyville. I didn't have much time to prepare for it, it happened so fast… I didn't even tell Milhouse or Je.. well anyone at all." I say. I never told Jessica anything, she was my girlfriend and we were almost best friends, then one day I just disappeared. I must have hurt her… hurt her a lot.

"What happened?" Nelson asks as two cops come towards me.

"Are you Bart Simpson?" A tall, male cop asked.

"Yeah…" I reply.

"Can you excuse us Nelson?" The other, shorter female cop said. I was going to ask how they knew his name but I'm guessing every cop in Springfield knows him, most of them knew him when we were kids.

"Yeah sure, I live in the same place… come and give me a visit sometime, I got rid of the fleas too, Smell ya later," Nelson said. He has definitely changed but I guess some things, like his signature farewell, will never change. Nelson walked off, in a tough guy walk, it looked retarded but he didn't think so.

"Have you had anything to drink?" The male cop asked as we sat down.

"Yeah, I had a few drinks at Moes," They gave me a breathe test and say I was way over the limit. They continued asking questions, took my license and told me to get some rest and never drive drunk again. After this, I don't think I want to drink again.

-

I spent the night in the hospital and when day came, it was time to check what happened to Milhouse. He must still be alive, he wouldn't have died… even if it was the worst car crash I have ever seen. How fast was I going? What went wrong? I didn't even see that car. This is not how I wanted my return to Springfield to start off.

"Is he okay?" I ask the doctor, he was connected up to a lot of machines, still not moving at all.

"He's in a deep coma, whether he'll wake up again… well that's something I do not know. But don't worry, the longer he's in a vegetated state, the more I get paid." Dr Hibbert said as he laughed and walked off. Well the medical professionals in Springfield are always going to be useless I suppose.

Where do I go from here? My best friend is in a coma, he offered me a place to stay but I nearly killed him. I could go down to Nelson's later tonight, but I would have to explain a lot to him but I need a place to stay.

I can't do anything for Milhouse, I guess this has added to the list of mistakes I have made in Springfield. Now its time to get past this, I need to start my own healing process now. Where do I start? Should I try winning Jessica back some how or at least save her from making the biggest mistake of her life or should I try and resolve family issues?

A/N: I like how this story has come about so far, so uhh about the ending of this chapter… what do you think Bart should do first? Oh and how do you like the story so far?


	4. So its come to this?

The night has come, now I must find a new place to crash. My home is no longer my home, returning back to Shelbyville isn't an option either. I came here to show Springfield the new Bart, to redeem the old me but things haven't gotten off to a good start.

So here I am now, Nelson's house. It's still got a wrecked car on the un-mowed lawn, it's still got that smell of dead rabbits (I never understood why) and it was still covered in filth that couldn't be washed away with water and soap.

"Hey Bart, what up?" Nelson asked answering his door.

"Not much you know, just… well I might need a place to crash tonight, Milhouse is kinda… well I can't stay at his place right now."

"True, true… well come in." He said, moving out of the door and showing me that his tidiness hasn't improved at all.

"You can crash here tonight, mum's working tonight and dad's… well he's left again," Nelson sighed. I guess I never realised what I had till I lost it. My parents were very good and dad never ran away, well except to Moe's every now and then. They gave me more than I could ever give them but I just stuffed things up.

"Hey, you know that Jessica's getting married to Martin right?" He said before I got the chance to plant my butt on his cockroach infested settee.

"Yeah, so I have heard… what did… well what happened to Jessica after I left?" I ask, Nelson hung around that bad teen cliché, no doubt he would have been around Jessica before she went good.

"Well, for a few weeks she was wondering what happened, one day she kind of… went to your house and when she returned, she wasn't the same Jessica." Nelson said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… she disappeared completely from sight, no one heard from her in nearly 2 weeks. Then she returned, a mess… this was just a little while after you left. I didn't know what was going on, it wasn't my place to intervene… but then she went very uhh… dark…"

"Dark?"

"Well, in junior high she hung around those Goths, she got addicted to drugs and I never heard from her again. I kind of dropped out of school around 5th form and I heard she turned good after that." I know what Nelson is telling me isn't the truth. I know Jessica and I were close but I think she could deal with my absence a little bit better than that. She was always a tough girl, a bad girl, she had no emotions… there was no way she would just disappear like that. There is no way she would have followed a trend, that's not our style.

"Where is Jessica now?" I ask.

"Well living at home of cause, dude she's still in school." School, that was the one thing I didn't plan on talking about here. Its summer vacation now, I am still enrolled in Shelbyville High… I should have thought the finer details of my plan through much better than I did, or had a plan to have finer details to think about.

"When can I see her… you must know something about where she hangs out…"

"Well its Saturday, time to get some rest if you want to catch up with her sunshine," Nelson said with a dirty smirk. What could he mean by that? Wait… Church? Of cause, her dad's probably still the Reverend around here, if I can catch up with her… the one place I could do that is… at Church.

It's going to be hard to enter such a place, with its overwhelming goodness. I am a bad boy, I have no place to be in a church and I don't want to go their just for Jessica's sake. If I go there… it will be to find a new path. I haven't attended any religious establishment since my departure.

-

The church bells toll, do they toll for me, and me alone? It sure feels that way, so many familiar faces, all turning to me. Some had wide grins, while others had a look of fear. Some looked at me with delight while others loathed my face. Although there were different reactions, there was one thing everyone showed. They were surprised to see me.

"Oh my god, Bart Simpson… is that you?" A pretty, blonde girl said to me. I didn't know who it was so I just nodded my head.

"It's me, Alex… you know… Lisa's friend, I was a new girl that year… well the year you left Springfield." One of Lisa's friends, one of the last people I wanted to run into. No doubt she will know what I did to Lisa.

"Oh, hey, how's life been for you?" That was a stupid question but I didn't really want to talk to her, I was scanning the crowd of people. Slowly each one was entering the church, so many familiar faces but none of them resemble the one I am searching for, except for one. Reverend Lovejoy!

"I been good, thanks for asking." She said with a girlish squeal. Reverend Lovejoy slowly made his way to me, the man I looked up to with fear was now an inch shorter than me. The lines cracked his face, his shiny black hair was starting to turn grey. The one thing that hadn't changed was his piercing, brown eyes, those were the eyes that have always hated me.

"Hello Bart, what brings you back here?"

"I… well, I have done some bad things in this town… and I kind of want to redeem myself."

"That's good for you, and I'm sure someone will believe you. I am only going to say this once so listen careful, STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER." He was still a very intimating guy, I will give him that much. He walked past me and into the church, it was only me and Alex standing outside, everyone had made their way inside by now, that sure did happen quickly.

"Well aren't you going to come?" Alex asked as she prepared to enter the church as well.

"I'll come in a little bit," I say nervously, staring at the large grey steps and white doors.

"I'll save you a seat," Alex said running into the church. Jessica wasn't here, maybe she was the first one in, way before I came here. Should I enter this home of the holy? Do I deserve to enter? I need to enter this church, I need to cleanse my soul, maybe that's why bad things keep happening to me. It's like… Karma, and redemption is hard and without the right path you'll end up in the same place. With God by my side, not only will have the right path, I will have someone that can show me the way. Am I really starting to look for a second chance so hard that I am actually considering this?

"Bart?" Someone called out my name, I turn around to look at who. My heart froze, Jessica!


	5. Who am I?

"Hey…." I say turning around and facing Jessica. She was an inch or two shorter than me, her dazzling brown eyes hadn't changed a bit. Her hair was waist long and her smile was as cute as ever.

"Bart Simpson, the devil's advocate? What are you doing back here?" Martin said, obviously he isn't going to forgive me easily. He tightly grabbed Jessica's arm and pulled her towards him.

"Well… I did a lot of bad things, I just came back… to fix up things," I said in disbelief. I know I heard it, but I had to see it to believe. Jessica and Martin. Martin and Jessica.

"That's good for you, Bart… I'm so proud of you for doing something like that. I missed you, we should definitely hang out sometime again…" Jessica said with a friendly grin. Did Jessica just say that to me? The only girl that was as devilish as me.

"I missed you too, we should hang out sometime… I have a lot of catching up to do… especially with… good friends," Friends…. I am nothing but a friend to her now, maybe not even that. I am more or less what I said I was, a stranger to the inhabits of Springfield.

"Yes, but friends don't leave abruptly without warning, sweetie… we got to get to church, we are running late. You know how your dad is…" Martin said as he started walking, still tightly gripping Jessica's hand.

"Oh yeah, well see ya Bart." Jessica said sweetly, as she was dragged away. Exactly how close are Jessica and Martin? I mean he seems to have complete control over her, that's not Jessica… no one could control Jessica. What has he done to you my darling?

Empty and all alone, staring at those doors that I haven't entered in so long. What do I do now? Well the sermon is going to be over soon. No point of entering church now.

"Bart? Hey… what are you doing here?" It was Lisa. She parked her car and I walked over to her.

"Well, I'm just… well I'm not sure… damn, you got a car lil sis?" I ask amazed.

"Yeah but I can't drive you anywhere, I'm only on a restricted license…" She said to me.

"I got a full license, well I just got it before I came here." I said with a grin.

"True, true… you came here to see Jessica didn't you?" Did I? I don't even know that myself.

"I'm not sure, I ran into her anyways and… Martin." I say.

"Bart, you got to let it go, Martin has full control over everything she does and says, she's not your Jessica anymore, she's his." Lisa might have had a good point there but Jessica isn't the only person I came here to see.

"Hey, do you think mum will let me back home?" I ask and she starts giggling.

"No, of cause not… well not right now, I know one thing for sure… she misses her special little guy, what don't you show her that your now a special man?" She says as she steps out of the car.

"But how?" I ask as she walks towards me and puts her arm on my shoulder.

"Bart, I know you came here to fix up things you done in the past but are you prepared to do that?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" She was always the smarter one.

"Well, you're trying to redeem yourself with Jessica and Mum and god knows who else… have you proven to yourself that you're a new Bart? Are you sure my old mean brother is gone?" It's okay if no one else understands what she is on about because I don't either.

"I'm not sure…" I half reply, not adding that I'm not sure what she's on about.

"Where are you staying right now?" She asked.

"Well… I only been here for 2 days now, but I stayed in hospital one night and at Nelsons," I said.

"Well, I got an idea… you know the tree house, you were always fond of it… mum never took it down, she said something about you two having tea parties up there… anyways, why don't you stay there?" She asked.

"Uhh… live in my old tree house?" I ask. I know I have no where to go but that would be very difficult.

"Yeah, here… you got your full… just don't crash." She said handing me the keys to her car. I jump back into the car, this isn't like the Lisa I remember. I know Lisa was always willing to help me, but the day I left…

"_But mum… please, I'm sorry… please, mummy…" I pled as she packed the rest of my stuff. I ran to Lisa's room, there was nothing left in it but ashes… how the fire went out, I don't know. All I know is that the damage is done._

"_Lisa… I'm sorry," I say running into my room and tightly gripping my sister. Tears ran down my cheek, I don't want to leave Springfield, I don't want to leave my family._

"_Get out of my face, I don't have a brother." Her voice was cold, she pushed me off of her and walked away. She threw the nearly destroyed diary at the wall in a fit of anger, it vanished into ash just like her love for me. _

"Damn, sis… a manual… a girl that drives a manual," I said with a grin.

"It's not uncommon you know, so how come you were at the hospital?" She asked.

"How come you're not at church?" I ask starting up the car and pulling out.

"I'm Buddhist remember bro? Now answer my question," She said as I approached the 1st traffic light, I should ask where we are going, I still don't know that yet.

"Well… I kind of got drunk one night and thought I could drive Milhouse's car… and crash… oh man, I nearly forgot. Milhouse is still in hospital," As the light turned green, I launched the car.

"What? What? What?" She looked at me angrily, it's not like she hasn't given me that look before. She used to always give it to me when we were young and a part of me always hated receiving. I slow down to the speed limit, I don't think I should mention to Lisa that my license is actually suspend for 3 months.

Maybe this is what Lisa was trying to say, I came back here trying to clear my name. I have stayed out of a lot of trouble in the past 8 years but that doesn't mean I haven't been a teenager. I can't clear my name right now, cause… I'm still the old Bart. That doesn't matter though, I'll find a way to make things work out.


	6. Hey Nurse

"Milhouse will be free to go tomorrow night, no more drinking and driving right Bart?" The nurse said with a smile as she led us to Milhouse's room. That wasn't necessary since we already knew where it was but after I took a glimpse at the nametag did I figure why she did this. A childhood friend or foe? A teenage friend or foe?

"_I'm sick of that stupid girl, she thinks she's so great just because she got to jump a grade or two…" I tell Milhouse, my eyes glued to the red headed, know it all. Just ask Lisa what I think of nerds._

"_Well I have an idea," Milhouse said. I was shocked, Milhouse had an idea? It must be the new glasses…_

"_What?" I ask._

"_We should cut her hair… I mean, that would be so funny… we'll sneak into her house and shave her head." Milhouse said._

"_Okay, the problem with that idea is, that it isn't mine… which means it sucks. Still I suppose we could do that… you know where she lives?"_

"_Yeah… I uhh might have followed her home one day… uhh just so we had some preliminary information you know." Milhouse said turning slightly red._

"Alison… Alison Taylor… you're a nurse?" I ask stunned, she was around Lisa's age and just like my little sister, excelled in almost anything she did.

"Yeah, well I'm doing this as a part time job and hands on experience. I'm doing medicine at Springfield University, oh yeah they combined the old two universities into one… What are you doing back in Springfield anyways?" She asked.

"That's a good question…" I say as Lisa walked into the room.

"So uhh you and Lisa still friends?"

"Of cause, its funny… we remained friends because of you." She said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well at first it was because we both hated you, we would uhh talk about all these cruel things but as time went on, well we both started to miss you. It's good to see you again." I doubt that's true at all, I mean why would they remain friends just because of my absence?

"It's good to see you too, also… its nice your fiery hair back." I said with a smirk, slowly progressing into the room

"Dude, what happened to my car?" That was the first question Milhouse asked when I walked into the room. Guiltiness was something I was so used too, but I never experienced it because of Milhouse. I never did anything that bad to him, he was my best friend and now I had smashed his car.

"It's ridden off, I'm sorry dude."

"Meh, I actually got two other cars… you'll be surprised how much cash you earn when you work with your dad at the cracker factory." Milhouse said with a smile.

"I thought your dad was fired because your family split up,"

"Yeah but it's not like he didn't remarry, I got a half sister… that uhh lives with me. Dad and his new wife don't want her."

"Right… that makes sense… anyways I ran into Jessica and Martin." I say taking a seat next to Lisa. She hasn't said anything at all.

"I told you, let it go… you were talking with Alison, she's still pretty cute… go fall in love with her." Milhouse said with a chuckle. Is this a completely new Milhouse or just a slightly more matured one? Maybe he is still feeling the aftershocks of the crash.

"It's not about looks dude, she was mine... she was in a democratic relationship that was filled with love not dominance." I said.

"Milhouse is right, Jessica is gone… there is nothing you can do about that. She belongs to Martin, seriously you haven't seen how they really are together. It's kind of sad but Jessica seems happy, well sometimes…" Lisa said. I can't believe this, Lisa and Milhouse are both against me on this?

"But…" Ring-Ring! Lisa's phone rings and she leaves the room to answer it. Just as well cause I have no counter-argument to theirs. I don't know Jessica anymore, I loved her once but I just had to go and screw everything up.

"Dude, what's with Lisa… why is she all quiet?" Milhouse asked.

"I don't know, she was talking a lot in the car, maybe too much for her to take in right now."

"Man, is she still single?"

"Shut up man, that's my sister." That's my sister. When I left, we weren't siblings, we were enemies. Now I have a sister again. Or do I? Has she forgiven me or is she trying to pretend like what I did to her, everything I did to her, never happened. Do I really have a sister again?

"Yeah dude and you just smashed my precious RX-7"

"Yeah and that's a valid reason to make a move on my sister…" I say bluntly. Too be honest, I never really objected to the whole Milhouse and Lisa thing. I mean Milhouse was a good friend and Lisa was my sister. I have been gone for so long now that it's hard to tell who these people exactly are. I can't even explain what it feels like to see all these familiar yet different faces again. It's like running into a childhood friend multiplied by a whole town. This is one confusing equation.

"So Bart, where are you going to go now?" Milhouse asked.

"I came here to redeem myself but haven't done a single thing yet. I'm going to a place where I have done so much damage it's not even funny… the people there always loved me but I never showed them any love…" I say, nodding a good bye. Its going to be hard to redeem myself with this household of four but I have to try…


End file.
